Innocently Wicked
by stardust1019
Summary: Ok, so maybe Angel never actually had a soul. Maybe what he did have was a lot of charm, some good looks, and oh yeah: a definite craving for slayer blood. R&R Plz.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Devoutly Wicked

Angelus leaned indifferently against the stony brick of the alleyway, moving only to fish a cigarette from a pocket and to look up at the sky in its familiar tone of darkest blue. He popped a match, and the flame briefly flickered in the night, before disappearing in a slip of black smoke.

The vampire took a long drag and suppressed a sigh of impatience. Playing games like this had never taken him to such a new depth of deception. It took more time, and more tolerance when you were toying with the big guns. With the slayer, to be exact. He smiled, fully aware that as long as he played his cards right, he had all the time in the world.

After a moment he dropped the cigarette and crushed it with the heel of his shoe. The last thing he needed was for miss stab-happy slayer to think he was anything but pure-innocent. It might put a damper on things, and it was already slow-going without such trivial conflict.

After what seemed ages Angelus caught the sound of Buffy's steps approaching through the dark. The noise was so infinitesimal in comparison to that of a normal girl, that it was as easily distinguishable as the sound of her voice.

_Here we go, _he thought. _Time to play. _

Angelus stepped from around the building and immediately was forced to stride nimbly out of the way to avoid running smack-dab into the slayer. He caught her momentary surprise, and for the smallest fraction of a second he readied himself for her attack. When it didn't come, he let his stance relax and put on an earnest look of surprise almost identical to her own.

Buffy was dressed simply in a pair of blue jeans and a white blouse, her blonde hair put back in a ponytail with a plastic rubber band; her complexion unmarred from make-up and beauty products. He had already noted her attractiveness, and then dismissed it. It was inconsequential to what he'd set out to do, and thus held no stance in the situation at hand.

There was a short, awkward pause that hung in the air for just a small moment. Angelus could sense her feelings towards him, sordid human feelings of confusion and more importantly; affection. From their first meeting, affection was what Angelus had been trying so hard to invoke from Buffy. If he wanted to play the slayer like a pawn before he took her life, then he was going to do it right and pull out all the stops.

Thus far everything had run more smoothly then he could have hoped. Buffy and her little gang firmly believed that good old Angel was a vampire with a soul, as though a puppy were more likely to bite. Gaining trust had been the first step and perhaps the hardest yet. Next came getting Buffy to fall for him like a stone, and that part had proved almost boring in its simplicity. It had been easy to fake a couple deep stares, a couple fervent kisses. Nothing more to it then a sharp mind and good acting skills, really.

"Hello," Angelus said softly, stepping towards her a bit.

"Oh, I- sorry, I didn't see you, I didn't mean to-,"

He cut off her apologetic rambling in one abrupt movement, so fast that even the slayer couldn't react in time as he pressed his lips to hers in a fraud act of sentiment. Although his lips were cold as ice and the wind was chill, he felt her body heat up faster then a furnace in the sun. He felt a wavering amount of amusement when he felt her totally relax in his hold, and then return his embrace with a _real _wave of affection. It was almost too damn easy.

Once they parted, he did the way-too-long-gaze-in-each-others-eyes-thing, feeling a tick of impatience. It was almost sickening how much she felt for fake-Angel, how much she managed to radiate those utterly human feelings. And really, (besides the plan itself) he was more interested in getting to home base then taking long walks on the beach and all that shit.

As they walked away together, talking amiably to each other in a prattle he found dull but necessary, he could only feel a spited twist of iniquity. And of course, satisfaction.

_Just a little bit longer, Babe. _He thought.

_Just a little bit longer before I break you down and feed on the pieces. _

___**To be continued……_**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Sincerely Wicked

"Where were you last night? You didn't report your patrolling; you could have been killed for all I knew."

Buffy was silent at first, as though trying to choose her words carefully.

"Well, I ran into Angel the other night…I sort of took a break from patrolling…"

"A break? This isn't a nine to five job with holidays and a dental plan. And did you say Angel?

"Yes. Angel."

"Well… Do you really think spending so much time with Angel is all that much of a good idea?"

"What do you mean?" She asked tersely.

"I don't mean to offend. I just don't think-,"

"Angel is safe? So what if your Watcher diaries say he was the biggest bad? He's not now, and that's what matters," Buffy remarked rather crossly, eyeing daggers at Giles.

Giles looked down, removed his glasses and then polished them with a cloth he'd pulled from a pocket. He looked thoughtful, perhaps a tad sheepish.

"I don't mean to say he's still evil, I'm just warning you _to be careful._ Soulless or no, vampires –Especially those with a remarkable body count like Angel- are not to be trifled with so easily. You of all people should know that."

"Yes, well I of all people _do_ know that. I also know that Angel is **not **Angelus."

"Buffy, Angelus was a formidable liar. He played mind games with his victims, scared them and hurt them to the point they _wished _for death to come. Drusilla is the perfect example; he drove her mad before he turned her. Would have killed her, if not for Spike needing a playmate."

The comment about Spike had piqued her interest, but she reserved herself in stony silence.

Buffy glared at her Watcher for a moment longer, livid at his audacity. She would have continued to argue in Angel's defense if not for the shrill pierce of the school bell, signaling a change in classes. Doors had already opened, and students had begun pouring out into the hall in search of their next course. Buffy spun on her heel and left the library, clearly heated. She was sure to let the door slam behind her as she went.

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-_**that night-**_

"What do you get when you cross a vampire and a human?"

Angelus looked down at the quivering figure in his arms. She was a young girl, maybe fifteen or sixteen at best. Blonde hair and big blue eyes which were now red with tears and fright. Angelus seemed to tower over the poor thing, one hand pressed easily over her lips to keep her from screaming. The other hand trilled through her hair, almost lovingly.

"Dead," he whispered the answer to his joke in her ear, and felt her entire body writhe in panic as she tried to escape his grip, to no avail.

With deliberate patience, he thrust her head back by a tangle of her hair to expose the smooth white of her throat. He fed on her then, slowly and at leisure until her muffled screams became whimpers and then disappeared all together.

Angelus dropped the small body to the ground, where it landed with a graceless thud.

"What, no laughs?" He asked the lifeless form mockingly. "And I worked so hard on that one, too."

"Oh well. I can always practice on the slayer," he smirked.

Angelus swept through an alley then, and disappeared into the night like a shadow.


End file.
